1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to underwater accessories to be worn by a diver. More particularly, it pertains to a purge system for a boot, to be worn by the diver that, upon exiting the water, drains the water that infiltrated the boot during the dive.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In the field of human underwater activities, there have been many improvements in diving clothes, diving equipment and diving accessories. The clothes are being made from newer materials that help insulate the diver from the uncomfortable temperatures of deep water. The diving tanks, valves and pressure gauges have been improved to provide more reliability to make the dive safer for the diver. Other accessories, such as computers, underwater communication devices, and the like have not only improved the quality of the dive but have raised the level of safety as well.
There is, however, a continuing problem with water accumulating in the diving suit during the dive and expelling this water from the suit after emerging from the water. The very act of sealing the suit against unwanted influx of water during the dive must be tempered against not overly restricting movement of the extremities, such as one""s hands and feet, so that the dive may be enjoyed rather unrestricted against movement. The flexibility of such a suit therefore mandates against a suit that is sealed too tightly. Water that enters various parts of the diving suit during the dive does not cause a problem for the diver as he or she is at neutral buoyancy during the dive.
When, however, the diver exits the water, he or she stands up and thereafter remains mostly in a vertical position, either sitting or standing. Gravity works to bring the water in the suit down to the foot area with the result that the boots become overinflated with water and balloon outward. This ballooning effect makes walking about the deck of a boat very uncomfortable, as well as dangerous, and in other respects makes the diver look rather outlandish with enlarged feet not unlike that of a duck.
The standard remedy is to take the boots off, turn them upside down and dump out the water. With more modern diving suits this is not always possible without stripping off the pants or otherwise having to unlatch or unzip other parts of the suit. Such actions may cause embarrassment when different sexes are diving together, and may otherwise cause difficulty in getting the boots back on after draining them.
This invention is a dive boot purge system that may be applied to a wide range of diving gear, especially to those diving suits with integral boots. The boots possessing the purge system of this invention need not be removed after exiting the water. By either walking about on a deck or other hard surface or placing the feet in a proper and controlled position while sitting, neither act being uncomfortable for the average diver, the system will be activated and the entire water content of the boot will be quickly and harmlessly disgorged.
Accordingly, the main object of this invention is a diver""s boot purge system that rids the boot of accumulated water virtually immediately upon exiting the water yet does not allow the influx of water into the boot upon reentering the water. Other objects of the invention include a means of rapidly draining water accumulated during the dive from the boot and the lower extremities of the diving suit; a means of rapidly ridding the dive boots of water without having to remove the boots; a means of preventing water from remaining in the boot after the dive is over and having the water drain from the boot upon exiting from the water; a means of relieving the diver from the uncomfortable, unsightly and occasionally hazardous situation of bloated diving boots; and, a means of modernizing the diving boot to promote the safety and comfortableness of the sport.
These and other objects of the invention will become more clear when one reads the following specification, taken together with the drawings that are attached hereto. The scope of protection sought by the inventors may be gleaned from a fair reading of the claims that conclude this specification.